Eagles vs. Giants Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Thursday Night - Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo, Theo Johnson

October 9, 2025

Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em lineups advice for Eagles vs. Giants on Thursday Night Football in Week 6 (2025). NFL matchups analysis and TNF starts/sits.

If ever you needed more evidence that the wild and wacky always occur on Thursday Night Football, look no further than last week. The junior varsity San Francisco 49ers outlasted the Los Angeles Rams in overtime in a game that gave us many strong fantasy football performances. For Week 6, we have two games with very interesting fantasy storylines brewing and a heated intra-divisional rivalry on top of it.

The last time the Eagles and Giants played was in January 2025 during the last week of the 2024 regular season. In that game, players like Drew Lock, Will Shipley, Tanner McKee, and Jahan Dotson were putting up stats. This time, we are getting all the stars, including Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jaxson Dart, and Cam Skattebo. Barkley is returning to his old home. It's Dart's first divisional game. And plenty of other storylines will keep us tuned into this game.

I will bring you Thursday Night Football analysis all season, focusing on who to start, who is on the fence, and who should be benched. Let's dive into this Week 6 Thursday night matchup for the 2025 season. You can also check out our main Week 6 start 'em, sit 'em matchups article for all other games. Good luck in your fantasy football week, RotoBallers!

Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants

Thursday, October 9, 8:15 PM ET

Notable Injuries:

• Saquon Barkley (RB, PHI) - Questionable - Knee
• Darius Slayton (WR, NYG) - OUT - Hamstring

Eagles vs. Giants Matchup Breakdown

Both the Eagles and the Giants are coming off losses in Week 5, and both teams should have won their respective games. Philadelphia had a 14-point lead on Denver in the second half, and then proceeded to forget how to move the ball down the field, which allowed Bo Nix to work his magic. The Giants gifted the New Orleans Saints their first win of the season after throwing two interceptions and losing three fumbles on the road.

Eagles week pic.twitter.com/ntU8dVOeHq

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 7, 2025

Both teams are still trying to find their way offensively this year. The Giants and Eagles are both in the bottom seven teams in the league in terms of yards per play and in the bottom half of the league in third-down conversions per game. The Eagles can normally lean on their stellar defense if their offense fails them, but both teams are also in the bottom 12 in the league in opponent yards per game allowed.

Then, why are the Eagles 4-1 and the Giants 1-4? Simple answer: turnovers. The Eagles are seventh in the league in turnover margin per game, while the Giants are just 28th. If Dart and his offense can hold onto the ball in this game, it should be a competitive contest. If not, we may get a game like we did last October, when the Eagles won 28-3 in New York.

Must-Starts for Fantasy Football Lineups

Jalen Hurts (QB, PHI)

Despite all the consistency issues, accuracy problems, and complaints about the passing game, Jalen Hurts is still QB7 for the 2025 season. He has scored fewer than 19 fantasy points in a game one time this season, and his rushing floor combined with his rushing touchdowns make him an every-week player at this point. The Giants have allowed the 10th-most rushing yards to quarterbacks this season, as well as the ninth-most passing yards.

Saquon Barkley (RB, PHI)

The Questionable tag for Barkley is more related to general soreness, according to the team, and there does not appear to be any doubts about him missing Thursday Night Football. Despite not having an all-time season like he did in 2024, Barkley is still firmly in the top-12 running backs this season and now gets the Giants, who allow the seventh-most fantasy points per game to the running back position.

A.J. Brown (WR, PHI)

The New York Giants have also been quite bad against opposing wide receivers, so Brown is going to get one more week of must-start status for me before I start internally debating whether or not this Philadelphia Eagles offense can sustain the workload we expected for Brown when he was drafted in the second round this year. The Giants have allowed the most receptions (74) and the second-most receiving yards (924) to the position this season.

DeVonta Smith (WR, PHI)

Smith has outplayed Brown this season because when Hurts does throw, he has been going deep frequently this season. Hurts ranks fifth in deep ball attempts, eighth in air yards per attempt, and 14th in total air yards. That has allowed Smith to have a few of these spike weeks, like in Week 5 when he caught eight of 10 targets for 114 yards.

.@devontasmith's 114 yards yesterday marked his 14th career game with 100+ receiving yards (including playoffs) ✔️ pic.twitter.com/xWpATtzfMP

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 6, 2025

Possible Starts for Fantasy Football Lineups

Dallas Goedert (TE, PHI)

Among tight ends who have played at least four games this season, Goedert is ranked third with 11.2 half-PPR fantasy points per game. He is likely your best option at the position on your roster, but the Giants have been stingy against tight ends so far. At just 5.1 fantasy points allowed per game, they are the sixth-best team in the league. But Goedert can overcome that with volume. His 90.8% route participation rate is second-best at the position.

Jaxson Dart (QB, NYG)

In his first two starts, Dart has certainly been usable in fantasy leagues, averaging 18.7 fantasy points per game. Among quarterbacks with two starts the last two weeks, that ranks 16th overall, slightly ahead of Drake Maye and Jared Goff. He is a borderline top-15 start against the Eagles this week, especially with such a low implied total. In 10-team leagues, there are likely better options available, but in 12-team leagues or larger, you can justify him because of his rushing floor (55 rushing yards per game).

Jaxs🎯n pic.twitter.com/JkFRShLBj9

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 5, 2025

Cam Skattebo (RB, NYG)

In the last two games, Skattebo has played 75% and 68% of snaps for the Giants. That's a strong, workhorse role, but the fear this week is that Tyrone Tracy Jr.'s return eats into some of that work. In Week 2, Skattebo played 52.5% while Tracy played 42%. That kind of reduction would hurt Skattebo considerably, especially against an Eagles defense that has been very good at the goal line against running backs. Skattebo is more of an RB2/Flex play this week, especially after a red-zone fumble lost in Week 5.

Theo Johnson (TE, NYG)

Johnson seems to be the preferred target for Dart through two games. Dart has thrown three touchdown passes, and they have all gone to Johnson. He is now in the top 20 among all tight ends in total targets, but the Eagles pose quite a threat to his fantasy production. They allow just 4.0 fantasy points per game to the position, the fourth-best mark in the entire NFL. He does get a nice boost with Darius Slayton officially ruled out.

Consider Sitting for Fantasy Football Lineups

Jahan Dotson (WR, PHI)

As the WR3 for the Philadelphia Eagles, there is not enough passing to support Dotson unless there is an injury to another player on the roster. Dotson has 10 targets on the season and a 7.6% target share overall.

Wan'Dale Robinson (WR, NYG)

I originally grouped Wan'Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton because they were both supposed to be the biggest beneficiaries of the Malik Nabers injury. However, in the last two weeks, that has not materialized with Dart at quarterback.

Both Robinson and Slayton are averaging 4.3 half-PPR fantasy points per game in that span, which has them tied at WR73 overall. This might change in the weeks ahead, but right now, Theo Johnson and Cam Skattebo are the main weapons until Dart is given more time to let plays develop downfield.

I do like Robinson a bit more now that Slayton has been ruled out, but he has one game with more than 55 yards all season and will be the focal point of the Eagles secondary. Robinson does have a nice PPR floor in this game.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. (RB, NYG)

Tracy will come back from a shoulder injury this week after missing two weeks with a dislocation. However, it seems the team has turned to Skattebo as its primary running back, and I would not want to trust Tracy against the Philadelphia defense in his first game back from an injury. With Devin Singletary also working in, there just won't be enough work in this backfield.

Kirksey’s Thursday Night Football Picks

Current Spread: PHI -6.5
Over/Under: 40.5

This 40.5 total is the second-lowest of Week 6, and only two points higher than the borderline unwatchable Cleveland-Pittsburgh game. That's either some serious disrespect for a Super Bowl-winning offense or some serious respect for that same team's defense. The total implies 23.5 points for Philadelphia and 17 for the Giants. It's such a low number, even when just considering that the Eagles allow 21.8 points per game and the Giants allow 25.4.

With Dart playing at home, I think the Giants shouldn't have a problem crossing 17 points. Especially since Philadelphia is 25th in the league, allowing 4.7 yards per rush, and the Giants are going to lean heavily on the legs of both Skattebo and Dart. Johnson and Robinson are nice pieces, but they may not be the focal point of tonight's game.

Barkley will be extra motivated for this game, and the Eagles will be looking to get their passing attack going outside of the success they have had with Goedert. I'll predict the final score in this game will be Philadelphia 27, New York 20.

The Pick: NYG +6.5, OVER 40.5

2025 Overall Record:
Spread (3-2), Over/Under (3-2)

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